Dick Giordano

(20 July 1932 - 27 March 2010, USA)

The Enchanted Village (Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction #4)

The American comic artist Dick Giordano is mainly known for his work as an editor and inker for Charlton and later DC Comics. Richard Joseph Giordano majored in illustration and advertising art at the High School of Industrial Art in New York and went to work at Jerry Iger's studio, starting out inking backgrounds. After nine months at Iger, Giordano went freelance.

In 1952, he went to work for the Connecticut publisher Charlton Comics, where he did space adventures, westerns, hot rods, romances, but mostly crime comics. In 1955 he became a staff artist at Charlton in order to maintain his job. By 1965, Giordano became the company's Editor-In-Chief , during which he oversaw the production their "Action Hero" line, which included such classics as 'The Blue Beetle' and 'Captain Atom' by Steve Ditko. He also helped launch the careers of authors like Dennis O'Neil, Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo.

In 1968 he became an editor at DC Comics, working on titles like 'Bat Lash' (by Carmine Infantino, Joe Orlando, Sheldon Mayer and Sergio Aragónes) and 'Deadman' (by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino). Other editorial work included 'Teen Titans', 'Aquaman' and 'Young Love', while he also served as a penciller and inker (a.o. 'Green Lantern' by Neal Adams).

Giordano and Adams left DC and founded Continuity Studios in 1971. As an art packaging company for among others Charlton, Marvel and Big Apple Comix, Continuity was a launching pad for several young professional comics artists. Giordano also continued to draw, among others 'Batman' and 'Wonder Woman' stories for DC and 'Son of the Tiger' in Marvels 'The Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu' title. He furthermore as an inker on redefining serials of 'Batman' and 'Green Lantern/Green Arrow' and specials like 'Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man' and 'Superman vs. Muhammad Ali'.

Rocky Lane (Star Western, ACG Comics)

Back at DC since 1980, Giordano was then company's Executive Editor from 1983 to 1993. He helped relaunch classic titles like 'Batman', 'Superman', 'Wonder Woman', 'Justice League of America', 'Green Lantern' and 'The Flash'. Giordano also launched new series like 'Crisis on Infinitive Earths' by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez (with inks by Giordano) and 'Watchmen' by Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore, that appeared under the new Vertigo imprint.

After 1993, the semi-retired Dick Giordano continued to work as a penciler and inker for several publishers. He made a graphic novel adaptatation of 'Modesty Blaise' with writer Peter O'Donnell for DC in 1994. From 2002, he illustrated several issues of 'The Phantom' for the European and Australian market. Giordano started up the brief Future Comics label with David Michelinie and Bob Layton. and he had a part in the organization of the Hero Initiative fund. He passed away in Ormond Beach, Florida, in March 2010. Giordano's final work was issue 51 of 'Jonah Hex', that appeared in that same month.

A panel by Giordano for 'Strange Suspense Stories' were a man holds a paint brush next to a painting inspired Roy Lichtenstein's 'Brushstrokes' (1965). Another panel from a Giordano comic, 'Billy the Kid', was used for Lichtenstein's painting 'Foot and Hand' (1964).